Agustín Vales Castillo (1857 – 1938) was a Mexican businessman, banker, industrialist, landowner, philanthropist, and liberal politician who served as prefect of Mérida (jefe político) during the governorship of Olegario Molina. He emerged as a prominent figure during the heyday of the henequen industry in Yucatan due to his influence in business and political circles during the Porfiriato era.
During his tenure as the prefect of Mérida, between 1902 and 1908, Vales promoted various important public works for the city that were recognized nationally and internationally. During Porfirio Díaz's visit to Mérida, the president praised the impeccable and modern state of the city, considering it a suitable place for investment and economic growth. Furthermore, the glowing description of Mérida by British writers Frederick Frost and Channing Arnold supports the city's reputation at that time as a clean, modern, and prosperous place. While Vales is recognized for his contribution to Mérida's development, his government was also characterized by authoritarian and paternalistic actions.
During the Mexican Revolution, there was a shift in political power in Yucatán, and many elite families joined Maderism, led in the southeast by José María Pino Suárez, who was related to Vales by marriage. During that period, Vales aligned himself with Maderism and maintained close business relations with the Madero family. For example, in 1912, Vales partnered with Ernesto Madero Farías, uncle of President Francisco I. Madero, to establish the Compañía Harinera del Golfo, S.A., which became the main flour supplier in the Yucatán Peninsula.
Throughout the 20th century, the Vales family continued to position themselves as a prominent business dynasty in southeastern Mexico, with Agustín Vales Millet expanding the empire established by his father. Their ventures included the creation of The Yucatan Bank, the industrialization of Yucatecan plywood, a monopoly in the bottling and distribution of Coca-Cola, and the distribution of Volkswagen vehicles in the Yucatán Peninsula.
Family Born in Mérida, Yucatán in 1857, his parents were Agustín Vales, a businessman and landowner born in Galicia, Spain, and María Castillo, born in Mérida.
The Castillos, his maternal family, was a distinguished clan of landowners who had come to Yucatán since the viceregal period. During that time, they were repeatedly able to prove they descended from the Spanish nobility (hidalgura), then a requisite to holding public office. According to Valdés Acosta, "those of this lineage proved their descent from Cornelius the Centurion," the first gentile to convert to Christianity, and “their ancestral home (solar) in the Burgos Mountains is one of the most distinguished” in Spain.
María del Carmen Vales Castillo, his sister, married Raymundo Cámara, head of the Cámara family, one of the principal patrician families of Yucatán. Through this marriage, Agustín Vales was related to several prominent Maderista politicians in the Yucatán Peninsula. Two of his nephews supported the antireelectionist cause: Alfredo and Nicolás Cámara Vales served as governor of Quintana Roo and Yucatán, respectively. Meanwhile, María Cámara Vales, his niece, married José María Pino Suárez, who served as vice-president of Mexico
Career Before assuming the position of prefect of Mérida, Agustín Vales had already distinguished himself as a prominent businessman. It is mentioned that Olegario Molina, governor of Yucatán, selected him for the position due to his reputation as a "man of energy, integrity, talent, and knowledge of the environment in which he would operate." Additionally, other sources describe him as a "skilled and audacious promoter of economic progress."
It is noteworthy that governor Molina, a member of the Liberal Party, chose Agustín Vales despite his sympathy for the Conservative Party in the previous administration. During that time, a group of conservative businessmen was created including Vales, Eusebio Escalante, and Raymundo Cámara, who had supported the newly elected conservative governor, general Francisco Cantón.
During his tenure as prefect, Agustín Vales promoted several public works such as city paving and drainage systems, the construction of a Lunatic asylum and the expansion of the Penitentiary. He also played a fundamental role in the founding of the Hospital Agustín O'Harán in Mérida, recognized to this day as one of the best hospitals in the country. Vales made a significant personal donation for the creation of the hospital, along with other benefactors, including Leandro Ayala and members of the Molina family.
In February 1906, when Porfirio Díaz visited Mérida, he was received at an elegant reception at Vales' residence. Díaz was positively impressed by the progress achieved in Mérida during Vales' administration, describing the city as impeccable and modern, a suitable place for the great capital generated in Yucatán. With Vales in charge of the political leadership, Mérida flourished, its streets scientifically, paved with macadam, illuminated at night with electric lamps, and traversed during the day by modern trams, all before Mexico City. In those years, Frederick Frost and Channing Arnold, two British writers who visited, described the capital of the state:"Merida was magically perfect, completely different from any other Spanish-American city one could imagine. Merida is such a clean city that it is astonishing. The henequen millionaires are so wealthy that they really do not know what to do with their money... and they came up with the idea of modernizing the city. It took four years (1902-1906) and the result is perfection. From north to south, from east to west, the streets, both side streets and main avenues, extend along the three-mile width of the city, with a surface as smooth as glass and as clean as marble. As we effortlessly walked from street to street, observing well-constructed and harmonious houses, we rubbed our eyes and wondered if we had arrived in a land where every day was cleaning day. The people passing by in carriages, the police officers on the corner with their elegant Holland uniforms, and the merchants at the doors of their stores... all had an impeccable appearance that defied description. The splendor of the city had a mesmerizing effect that almost convinced us that we had arrived in Utopia."While he is recognized for his contribution to the development of Mérida, authoritarian actions are also attributed to his government: he attempted to prevent the growth of syndicalism and is mentioned to have promoted hygienist policies such as the prohibition of alcoholic beverages and the closure of taverns in the city.
His close association with Olegario Molina was not limited to politics; he also partnered with him in various enterprises related to the exploitation of henequen.
Additionally, along with the Cámara Ancona brothers, he owned Hacienda Chenkú, one of the most prominent estates in Yucatán and an important fiber producer in the context of the booming henequen industry.
Associated with his brother-in-law Raymundo Cámara and Eusebio Escalante, Agustín Vales founded the Cuyo Agricultural Company, although he only held a minority interest.This company employed over fifteen hundred workers and controlled an extensive property of 2,627 square kilometers in the northwest area of Yucatán (roughly the size of Rhode Island) which was "crossed by 168 km of its own telephone lines, an animal-drawn Decauville line with 60 platforms and 500 mules, a broad-gauge railway with 12 platforms and a locomotive, a 167-m-wide dock and even a 500-ton steamship." The estate had abundant resources such as trees for obtaining dyes, land suitable for cultivating sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, corn, and cereals, as well as areas suitable for salt production. It was also known for the exploitation of forest resources, including valuable woods used in cabinetmaking and construction, as well as the extraction of gum. Additionally, they cultivated products such as cocoa, cotton, bananas, and vanilla. The company exported dye wood to European markets in Hamburg, Le Havre, and Liverpool, where it was used in the textile industry. As for gum, its main destination was New York, with an average annual commercialization of 400,000 kilograms.
In 1906, Agustín Vales, along with his son Agustín Vales Millet, founded the Mérida Chamber of Commerce and held the presidency of the organization at the time.
Vales also stood out in the banking and finance sector. He was one of the founding partners and a member of the first board of directors of Banco Yucateco, S.A., an entity that competed with Banco Mercántil de Yucatán, S.A. The former bank was composed of entrepreneurs aligned with the interests of Olegario Molina, while the latter was backed by entrepreneurs close to Eusebio Escalante Castillo and Raymundo Cámara. In 1937, shortly before his death, Vales also founded Banco Mercantil de Tampico, S.A. and Sociedad Financiera Mercantil, S.A.